S

July    10th

LOVE    THE HUMBLE  ART

“Love   the humble  art you have    learned,    and take    rest    in  it. Pass    through the remainder   of  your

days    as  one who whole-heartedly entrusts    all possessions to  the gods,   making  yourself    neither a

tyrant  nor a   slave   to  any person.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    4.31

top by a comedy club any weekend night in New York or Los Angeles and you’re likely to find some
of the world’s biggest and most commercially successful comedians in there, workshopping their
craft for just a handful of people. Though they make a fortune in movies or on the road, there they are,
practicing the most basic form of their art.
If you ask any of them: “Why are you doing this? Why do you still perform?” The answer is usually:
“Because I’m good at it. Because I love it. Because I want to get better. Because I thrive on connecting
with an audience. Because I just can’t not do it.”
It’s not work for them to get up on stage at Carolines or the Comedy Cellar at 1 a.m. It’s invigorating.
They don’t have to do it. They’re free, and they choose this.
Whatever humble art you practice: Are you sure you’re making time for it? Are you loving what you
do enough to make the time? Can you trust that if you put in the effort, the rest will take care of itself?
Because it will. Love the craft, be a craftsman.